Terfel does best when he has something clear to play; and when he knew what Wotan wanted, he burst out with the best of them, demanding that Erda stay and reveal the meaning of her prophecy, or formally, regally escorting his wife, Fricka, into their new home.

It's in Coverdale's revision of his own work, Henry VIII's officially authorised, regally bound and aptly titled Great Bible, that the "face of the deep"/"face of the waters" formulation first appears.

Throughout most of art history, commissioned portraits ennobled their subjects—showing them surrounded by symbols of wealth and virtue, perched regally on a steed or even transported into a New Testament scene.